Keywords
fermans
Turkish nomads
Ottoman tax registers
Resm-i Çift
How to Cite
Abstract
The aim of this article is to analyse the legal and social position of Turkish nomads (yürüków) in the Ottoman Empire in the light of normative sources, especially kanunnames, i.e. codes issued by sultans since the time of Mehmed II the Conqueror. The source material consists of kanunname texts, fermans and other sultanic regulations that defined the obligations and privileges of nomads towards the state. The method used was to analyse legal sources and compare them with demographic and economic data from, among others, tax registers and calculations by contemporary researchers. The findings indicate that the yürük initially played an important role in the Ottoman military system, providing specialised cavalry and militia units. However, their military significance declined, while administrative control and tax burdens increased. The nomads were subject to supervision by both central and local authorities. This led to the weakening of tribal structures and the gradual decline of the yürük. While maintaining the appearance of their former independence, they were largely integrated into the Ottoman administrative and fiscal system.
References
Aşıkpaşazade, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman [w:] Osmanlı Tarihleri, red. N. Atsız, Istanbul 1949.
Barkan Ö., XV. ve XVI. Asırlarda Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Zirai Ekonominin Hukuki ve Mali Esasları, Istanbul 1943.
Beldiceanu N., Beldiceanu I., Recherche sur la province de Qaraman au XVIe siècle, Leiden 1968. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004662674
Code de lois coutumieres de Mehmed II. Kitāb-ı Qavānın-ı ‘Örfıyye-ı ‘Osmāī, red. N. Beldiceanu, Wiesbaden 1967.
An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire 1300–1914, red. H. Inalcik, D. Quataert, Cambridge 1994.
Faroqhi S., Polityka i zmiany społeczno-gospodarcze w imperium osmańskim w drugiej połowie XVI w. [w:] Sulejman Wspaniały i jego czasy: imperium osmańskie we wczesnej epoce nowożytnej, red. M. Kunt, Ch. Woodhead, Wrocław 1998, s. 133–145.
Gökbilgin T., Rumeli’de Yürükler, tatarlar ve Evlâd-i Fâtihân, İstanbul 1957.
Heyd U., Studies in Old Ottoman Criminal Law, Oxford 1973.
Imber C., The Otoman Empire 1300–1650. The Structure of Power, Palagrave 2002.
Inalcik H., The Ottoman Empire. The Classical Age 1300–1600, Phoenix 1997.
Köprülü F., The Origins of the Ottoman Empire, New York 1992.
Kunt M., The Sultan’s Servant. The Transformation of Ottoman Provincial Government 1550–1650, New York 1983.
Lindner R. P., Nomads and Ottomans in Medieval Anatolia, Bloomington 1983. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/12483.0
Osmanlı Kanunnâmeleri ve Hukukî Tahlilleri, t. 1: Osmanlı Hukukuna Giriş ve Fatih Devri Kanunnâmeleri, red. A. Akgündüz, Istanbul 1990.
Osmanlı Kanunnâmeleri ve Hukukî Tahlilleri, t. 3: Yavuz Sultan Selim Devri Kanunnâmeleri, red. A. Akgündüz, Istanbul 1991.
Shaw S. J., History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, t. 1: Empire of the Gazis. The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808, Cambridge 1997.
Todorov N., La ville balkanique aux XVe–XIXe siècles. Développement socio-économique et démographique, Bucarest 1980.
Tuner H., Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda toprak kanunları, Ankara 1965.
Аграрный строй османской империи XV–XVII вв. Документы и материалы, red. А.С. Тверитинова, Moskva 1963.
Icmopuja на Македонскиот Народ, т. II, red. А. Стojановски, Cкопje 1998.
Кануннама султана Сулејмана, red. X. Хаджибегиć, „Гласник Земалског музеја у Сарајеву”, 1950, t. IV–V, s. 368–370.
Книга законов султана Селима I, red. А.С. Тверитинова, Moskva 1969.
License
© by Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of History, Poznań, 2007
OPEN ACCESS